Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/171

155 THE PLAINS OF THE JORDAN. 155

The Plain of Beisan.

The plain of Beisan may be said to extend from the Nahr Jalud to the Wady Maleh, a distance of 11 miles. The Valley of the Jordan here undergoes a great widening, which commences at the outfall of Nahr Jalud, into the Jordan, and from thence stretches westward along the foot of the hills on the north of Beisan, and up the Valley of Jezreel, to the waterparting between it and the Plain of Esdraelon, or Megiddo, or Merj ibn 'Amtr. a,bout 15 miles from the Jordan.

On the south side, the Valley of Jezreel is bounded by the mountains of Gilboa (Jebel Fuku'a), until they come to about three miles west of Beisan, when the mountain range turns to the south, and forms the western limit of the Plain of Beisan. For about seven miles south of Nahr Jalud, the plain on the west of the Jordan is six or seven miles wide ; beyond which low hills advance suddenly, and reduce this side of the plain to a width of about three miles at its southern end. On the eastern side of Jordan, the foot of the mountains of Gilead runs straight from north to south, and is two miles distant from the river. Among these highlands are Jabesh Gilead and the remains of Pella.

Another abrupt rise takes place in the plain, like that which confines the Zor. It occurs along the length of the broad part, from Nahr Jalud and Beisan on the north, towards the advancing hills on the south, where they are capped by Khurbet Ka'aun. It lies midway between the Zor and the foot of the western mountains, and is parallel to them. The height of this remarkable bank, is more than double of that which confines the Zor, and amounts to 400 feet or more. Beisan is on its edge, and so is the Eoman road which connects Beisan with Nablus. It will be seen that this striking feature, although it stands far in front of Mount Gilboa, is nearly in a line with the hills at its northern and southern extremities, and thus appears to be the proper western limit of the Ghor, separating it from the long and gradual slope which the Valley of Jezreel makes in ascending to the Plain of Megiddo.